Previews

Alone in the Dark

Spiffy:

"Skip-ahead" approach could help open up the game to non-hardcore gamers; seems willing to take risks.

Iffy:

Voice work seems overacted; inventory may be more annoying than useful.

Realistic fire. Physics puzzles enabled by dangling ropes and weighty character models. A story that appears to be something along the lines of "Hellraiser" meets "The Da Vinci Code," starring the guy from the original Alone in the Dark. Yeah, it's safe to say we've seen Atari's upcoming Alone in the Dark revival quite a number of times. No better time than now, though, for what will probably be our last look before it's out next month. Novel as it is, we've seen the physics stuff before, as well as the over-the-counter alchemy made possible by the myriad volatile substances scattered throughout the game's Hell-beset Central Park setting.

Eden Studio was on hand at a recent press event to present a lengthy demonstration of the game in its late stage of development. Much of the same ground was tread, no doubt, but a few jewels were dropped -- some of which suggest that there are some novel ideas being built into Alone in the Dark, above and beyond how well it plays with fire.

Controlled Substance

As we've mentioned in past coverage, Alone in the Dark seems intent on peeling back some of the layers of abstraction that we've come to accept as givens that govern our games' most minute functions. For instance, there's no inventory screen per se; when you want to fumble through your stuff, the first-person camera peers down your character's torso, revealing the arsenal of weapons and chemicals strapped to the interior of his coat, kind of like a shady back-alley watch peddler. Functionally, it feels one step removed from a regular inventory UI: it's a little difficult to tell what's what when you're looking at pistol butts, pill jar lids, and booze caps. Healing works in more or less the same way -- when you want to patch yourself up, you'll switch into a view that's fixed on your wounds, and spray on antiseptic to make them vanish like a grass stain under Oxiclean.

The ways in which fire will behave have also been covered exhaustively. In essence, every fire you encounter has the capability to spread if it isn't extinguished, causing all flammable objects in its vicinity to ignite and eventually deteriorate. Roof panels will catch and eventually collapse, explosive substances will pop, and portable objects will be usable as torches. In opposition with some of the more sober elements in the game, however (like its defiantly naturalistic inventory system), you'll be able to do some funky things with fire, like pour booze on your bullets to create flaming projectiles. Absurd when you ponder the science behind it (our lab techs are currently putting this "myth" through the gauntlet), but apparently it'll be pretty useful, as what appear to be the most common enemies can only be put down if set ablaze.

Not that there's anything stopping you from swinging a lit chair into a zombie's face to kill it forever. You'll even get to enjoy some dual-analog melee mechanics if you do so. But evidently, sometimes the situation will call for flaming bullets.